The Waltz
by Energetic red
Summary: Post-war Weasley family Christmas. Hermione throws stones at a frozen lake, Harry laments, George tries to dance and Angeline tries not to laugh. Gift fic.


**I don't o** **wn the Harry Potter series...**

 **Secret Santa Gift Fic**

 **Drabble - FROST**

 **Quidditch – LAKE**

 **I didn't have time to get this Beta'd so...here it is!**

* * *

 **Christmas Day, 1998**

The Burrow was packed to the brim and was practically bursting from the seams. An Extension charm had to placed on the table to fit everyone and a number of rooms (and closets) had been enlarged to fit the extended family.

Harry had grown used to the place being packed throughout the years, so it suited him fine, however the line for the bathroom was longer than usual and the lack of privacy was a bit stifling…but besides that it felt homely.

Mrs Weasley's hot chocolate was an added bonus as well, he'd already finished his third cup and was tempted for a fourth, but he restrained himself and went to go find Ron and Hermione. Harry left the living room and wandered towards the kitchen, hesitantly peaking around the door.

A thick smell of Turkey, stuffing and bacon filled the air, as steam rose up in the hot room, making his glasses fog up. Harry's forehead creased as he hastily wiped the condensation from his glasses with the hem of his jumper sleeve, before popping them back on.

Mrs Weasley, Fleur and Andromeda were running around cooking, preparing food and cleaning cutlery. Teddy was sat in a high chair next to the table, chewing on some bread, while Ginny was busy carrying a load of plates.

"Uh, do you guys need any help?" He apprehensively moved towards Ginny who was now levitating the plates onto the table, while also picking up some glasses.

"Thank you for the offer, dear," Mrs Weasley said, chopping up some carrots as she shot him a bright smile. "But, we've got it all sorted."

"Right." He surveyed the kitchen again. "Have you seen Ron and Hermione?"

"Ron's out tending to the chickens," Mrs Weasley replied, eyes still focused on the chopping board as she worked. "I don't know where Hermione's wandered off to – Fleur, dear, could you lower the temperature for the soup."

Fleur stopped stirring the soup and turned down the temperature. Then the golden haired woman took a spoon and tasted the soup; her face scrunched up when she swallowed. "It is too plain!" She grabbed the salt.

Andromeda tried to snatch the salt from her. "You'll ruin it!"

Ginny rolled her eyes and smirked at him, jerking her thumb at him to get out before things got messy. Harry smiled in amusement and slowly backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He checked a few of the rooms, but all he saw was Bill trying to teach George how to waltz and Percy struggling to detangle some Christmas lights with his magic.

Harry passed a window on his way up the stairs. The glass was covered with a thin layer of frost, distorting the transparency. He frowned when he saw someone wandering around the lake near the fields, but it was hard to see through the glass, so he had to squint his eyes – then he saw a familiar sight of bushy hair, which meant this, had to be Hermione.

He made his way back downstairs, grabbing his coat from off the (very full) coat hanger, pulling his gloves out of his coat pocket.

The cold air brushed his cheeks when he stepped outside, closing the door shut behind him. Harry made his way over to the lake, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. As he got closer, he saw Hermione was throwing stones at the lake, which was odd because the water was frozen over, so the stones just bounced against the ice.

"If you want to crack the ice, you could just use Bombarda," Harry called, as he neared her. He frowned when he saw a small pyramid of pebbles next to her.

Hermione glanced at him from behind her should, shooting him a somewhat grim smile. "I'm not trying to crack it." She picked up another stone from the pile and threw it at the ice. "I just…want to throw stones."

His frown deepened. "Oh, okay." He stood next to her, eyeing her curiously, which was when he noticed the faint red rings around her eyes. She'd been crying. "Are you okay?"

She threw another stone at the lake, so hard the stone made a dent in the ice, making Harry jump. "That lead I had, it's another dead end," she replied, evenly, facing him.

Harry felt his stomach twist. "…We'll find them eventually, Hermione. I mean we know their aliases."

"There are eighteen million people in Australia, so far I've narrowed down the search to 689," Hermione said, flatly. There was a long pause. "I should have put in a failsafe." She sighed and hugged herself tightly.

Harry hesitantly placed a hand on her upper arm. "Hermione, we'll find them, even if we have to do a massive tracking spell or recruit a private team of Aurors – eventually we'll find them."

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and smiled faintly. "Maybe. I guess I didn't think about how long it'd take to find them after the war..."

"Yeah, well we were kinda busy trying to stop a raving lunatic, so…" He forced a smile, and removed his hand.

Hermione's smile grew. "Well, you and Ron arguing didn't help things." She picked up another stone.

Harry's smile tightened at the memory. "Well, at least it wasn't all for nothing, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "It was worth it in the end…" Hermione chewed on her bottom lip.

A calm silence settled between them, as Harry stared at the frozen water. "I'm thinking of moving out of Grimmauld place," he broke the silence. Hermione's brow creased, glancing at him. "…Just for a change of scenery."

Her frown faded, a look of understanding flashing in her eyes. "Do you know where you want to go?"

He shrugged in discomfort. "I was debating Godric's hollow, but the house still feels weird to be in, so I might try somewhere else for a bit." His gaze fixated on the ice, swallowing a thick lump down his throat when he thought about the broken house.

Godric's hollow was home, but it was also a graveside. Whatever happy memories of his parents there were, felt weighed down by their deaths. He'd once made the mistake of spending a night there—it had been a week after the final battle—he'd slept on the coach, huddled up with a blanket and a powerful heating spell to keep him warm, but he hadn't slept a wink.

The silence had been unnerving and suffocating, like he was waiting for a large crash, or a high pitched scream. His anxiety had been irrational; it was a like a child being afraid of the dark. He'd laid awake there staring at nothing, not speaking or thinking, just _listening_.

It felt like he had been waiting for someone or something, whether that was his parents or Voldemort, or maybe a rogue Death Eater, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that the most frightening thing that kept him awake was the silence.

An uncertain peace.

"Harry?" Hermione linked her arms around his, her brows knitted together in concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, it's just cold out here," his voice sounded detached. Harry blinked a few times, frowning. "I think I'll go inside…are you coming?"

Hermione stared at him closely, making him grimace a tiny bit, because that was normally the same look she gave Ron when he tried to hide something from her. A look that meant, she'd play along for a while, but she'd find out what you were hiding. "Yeah, it's pretty cold." She squeezed his arm, giving him a half-smile.

He smiled back and walked with her back into the house.

* * *

Angelina was trying very hard not to laugh. She really, really was…but…George waltzing? It was just too much.

She covered her mouth to hide a snort of laughter, while she sat on his bed. Then her small slip of laughter grew into a full blown laugh, making George stop in his tracts. "I'm sorry." She clutched her ribs and gave another loud laugh.

A large lop-sided smile spread across George's face, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Do I really look that ridiculous?"

Angeline grinned and got to her feet, walking towards him. "Would you be offended if I said adorable?" She coiled her arms around his waist, tugging at his vibrant knitted jumper.

George's smile became coyer, as he arched an eyebrow at her. "Is adorable, a turn on?"

Angelina chuckled and kissed him on the nose. "Well…it is a little bit."

He kissed her tenderly and then began to sway his body along with hers. Angelina smirked when she realised what he was doing and rested her head against his chest. Then her gaze strayed to Fred's old bed, which caused her smirk to falter, as her stomach twisted. She quickly forced a smile back onto her face and looked up at her boyfriend. "Let's go downstairs, I wanna see Bill and Fleur try to waltz, it'll be fun." Angelina held his hand and proceeded to drag him out of the room.

George's forehead creased for a second, before he smiled. "Okay, just so long as we get to have a dance battle with them."

Angelina stifled a laugh and continued to lead him downstairs. "A dance battle?"

"What? Remember the Yule Ball, me and Fred-" George stopped, his grin slipping, but then he hastily forced it back on and continued, as if he hadn't paused in the first place. "…Wiped the floor with you and Katie," his tone a tiny bit strained.

Angelina looked at him sombrely, the two stopping at the landing of the stairs. "George, it's okay…" she said, softly, closing the distance between them. "I miss him too."

He didn't say anything, as his smile shrunk. Instead he just wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

* * *

Hermione covered her mouth as she let out a small burp. The dinner had left her feeling completely full, but also a little bloated. She saw Harry sitting in an armchair in the living room and went to sit down on the armrest. "Worn out?" She smiled brightly.

Harry smiled back sheepishly, absently rubbing his stomach. "I hear there's still some left over."

"Turkey for breakfast, hmm, my favourite," she replied, sardonically. She looked up when someone turned on the old record player, emitting a sharp jingle.

"You ready to be destroyed, Bill?" George led Angelina by the hand onto the main living room area.

Fleur snorted and smiled mischievously, as she nudged her husband forward. "Oh, pleaze, everybody, clear space."

"What are they doing?" Ron stood behind her, cocking an eyebrow at the scene.

"I think they're having a dance off…" Harry answered, slowly, the corner of his lip twitching upwards.

"Are they drunk?" Ron laughed when his brothers, Fleur and Angelina started to do some kind of weird waltz.

Hermione chuckled. "I'm not sure." She glanced back at Harry, her smile twitching somewhat. He may be smiling, but he still looked distracted. It was concerning, because when Harry kept things to himself, which normally ended up with him withdrawing for days. "You want to give it a try?"

Harry looked up in surprise. "…Uh, what?"

"Yeah, what?" Ron frowned.

Hermione shot him a sharp look, saying they'd talk later. She grabbed Harry's hand. "Come on, it's Christmas."

Harry glanced at Ron, who just shrugged, then back at her. "Okay, but don't complain if I step on your toes." He let her drag him towards the others.

Hermione clumsily put her hand on his waist, and then grabbed his hand, as he put his hand on her waist.

George and Angelina were spinning around the room, while Fleur and Bill were actually doing a real waltz.

Hermione winced when Harry stepped on her foot. "Sorry," he apologised. "It's like fourth year all over again."

"You aren't that bad – I think you've improved." Hermione tried to twirl him around, making him duck his head to spin on the spot. "I'll lead, it'll make things easier." She readjusted her position, and accidentally bashed into Bill and Fleur. "Sorry." She whipped around to check they were alright.

"Careful." Harry pulled her away, avoiding a collision with George and Angelina. "They're taking this pretty seriously."

"I noticed," Hermione said, giving him a crooked smile. "Okay, try to spin me."

Harry fumbled with her waist and lifted her up, spinning her a full 360 degree turn, as she clung to his shoulders. She softly landed on her feet, her chest pressing against his.

"Woo, nice," Charlie said, clapping in the background. Ron smiled uncertainly, along with Ginny. Molly poked her head around the corner, a tray of hot chocolates in hand, while Arthur, Percy, and Andromeda (who was holding a reindeer dressed Teddy) had gathered in the room to watch the proposed dance off.

"Not bad." Hermione grinned and picked up the dance again. "See, just relax."

"I am relaxed," he insisted, loosening his shoulders. George and Angelina had slowed down their dance, along with Bill and Fleur. Hermione glanced at them, her gaze trailing to George's disfigured ear, then back at Harry's face.

She stared at him thoughtfully. "Tell me what's wrong."

Harry groaned. "Hermione…"

"Don't shut me out," she said, sternly, raising her eyebrows. "What's been bothering you?"

He apprehensively looked around the room, but she doubted the others could hear their conversation over the music. Harry stared back at her and sighed deeply. "I've just had trouble sleeping, but it's nothing serious."

After all these years he was still trying to pull that trick. She sighed and shook her head, as her mouth formed a thin line, one of her eyebrows arching upwards. "Really?"

"Really. Honestly, I'm fine." He subconsciously looked around.

Hermione inhaled a deep breath, trying to think of a different approach. "I have trouble sleeping to," she told him, quietly, deliberately avoiding his gaze, she felt his grip on her waist tense. "I dream…no, that isn't the right word…I remember what Bellatrix did." She closed her eyes, trying to keep the memories at bay. "And, sometimes, it's hard to get through the day, but I do it, because I have to." She strained a smile. "And, I'm not ashamed to talk about it. Talking helps."

"Yeah, I know. I get it," he said, testily. A flicker of hurt flashed in her eyes at his abruptness. Harry caught her gaze. "I'm sorry, that makes me sound like a prick…" He swore under his breath. "I'll talk when I'm ready. It's just, right now is still…it's hard to accept he's dead." His brow creased.

Hermione stared at him curiously. "Voldemort?" she whispered, her eyes filling with concern.

There was a long pause, as the music filled her ears, almost forgetting everyone else in the room. "…I'm scared I'll wake up and he'll be there. That he'll find a way to come back or…or someone else will finish what he started." He tightened his grip on her hand. "I've seen his body and I've researched all I can, helped round up the Death Eaters….but it hasn't helped, and I…what if this never changes?" He was looking at her for answers.

Hermione tried to think of what to say, but she couldn't find the right words, so she hugged him close, and the stopped dancing. "I'm here, we're all here and alive. That's what's important," she murmured, rubbing his back. "That we're here and alive…" She stared off in to space, resting her head on his shoulder, thinking of her parents, as her eyes started to water. "That's what's important," she reminded herself.

Harry held her tightly, the two swaying on the spot. Hermione smiled softly as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

For the first time in a while she felt content.


End file.
